What is Feng Shui (Geomancy)?

What is Feng Shui?  Feng Shui is an ancient art and science developed over 3,000 years ago in China. It is a complex body of knowledge that reveals how to balance the energies of any given space to assure the health and good fortune for people inhabiting it.

“Feng” means “wind” and “shui” means “water” (pronounced fung-shway). In Chinese culture gentle wind and clear water have always been associated with good harvest and good health, thus “good feng shui” came to mean good livelihood and fortune, while “bad feng shui” came to mean hardship and misfortune.

Feng Shui is based on the Taoist vision and understanding of nature, particularly on the idea that the land is alive and filled with Chi, or energy. The ancient Chinese believed that the land’s energy could either make or break the kingdom, so to speak. The theories of yin and yang, as well as the five feng shui elements, are some of the basic aspects of a feng shui analysis that come from Taoism.

The main tools used in a feng shui analysis are the Compass and the Ba-Gua. The Ba-Gua is an octagonal grid containing the symbols of the I Ching, the ancient oracle on which Feng Shui is based. Knowing the Bagua of your home will help you understand the connection of specific feng shui areas of your home to specific areas of your life.

The feng shui compass, also called lo-pan, is used to access deeper information about a site or a building. It consists of bands of concentric rings arranged around the magnetic needle. “Lo” means “everything” and “pan” means “bowl”, which can be interpreted as the key to the mysteries of the universe.

An example of a Lo-Pan

It is important to understand that there are several different schools of feng shui, as well as a strong culturally specific symbolic aspect of feng shui that you have to use intelligently. Once you master the basic level of feng shui, you will start seeing powerful results, and will understand why feng shui is extensively used in both home and business environments all over the world.

Feng Shui offers a variety of feng shui cures to improve your life. From the feng shui use of aquariums to attract prosperity to the feng shui use of crystals and fountains, from the right feng shui use of colors to the feng shui use of clocks, there are many ways you can improve the energy in your home with feng shui.